How Much Money Did You Spend This Weekend?

From a retail perspective, this holiday weekend was successful. The National Retail Federation — an organization that represents retailers and is always happy to report good news in the industry — says that total spending over the four-day weekend from Thanksgiving to Sunday increased 16 percent over the same time period in 2010 when measured by total dollars spent. The total number of shoppers increased 6.6 percent and the average spent by each shopper increased from $365.34 to $398.62, or 9.1 percent.

Even “Small Business Saturday,” which I still see as a self-serving marketing campaign on behalf of American Express, has produced anecdotal evidence of success from mom-and-pop small business owners, while some customers have expressed frustration that some of American Express’s advertising did not clearly mention that registration in advance was necessary to receive the $25 credit.

I can’t overlook the unseasonably mild weather, at least in the New York metropolitan area, as a contribution to people’s willingness to leave the house and shop this year.

On Friday, I spent most of the day on an airplane, traveling from Los Angeles to Newark. I did not have the desire to wait outside a store in a line Thanksgiving night, the eve of Black Friday. Over the weekend, once home, I did not completely refrain from shopping. I purchased a gift for my girlfriend as we passed an item of clothing she liked, as well as a few discounted items of clothing for myself. For myself, I spent about $50 for items that normally would have cost about $100 without the “one-day-only” discount.

This past week leading up to Thanksgiving, while I was spending time with family in California, I gave into pressure and purchased myself a few toys. I grew up playing the original Nintendo Entertainment System, and Legend of Zelda was my favorite game. After the great reviews of the latest iteration in this series, a few in my family decided to take a look at the game. After getting a chance to play it, I decided I wanted to have a copy of my own. I find that I don’t have the time to spend playing video games, but I splurged on the game for myself, anyway — without paying full price.

I have more shopping to accomplish over the next few weeks before the holidays approach. I think giving into the retail frenzy during the days after Thanksgiving is generally a mistake. I’ve seen this happen in past years; the hottest items, even those deeply discounted during Black Friday, can often be found at even better prices later.

Before you consider me overly frugal, take note that I plan to spend quite a bit of money on myself in the near future as I continue exploring my hobbies and interests with full force as I find the time.

Nothing aside from cat food and toys. And then today, I took advantage of living social and their $20 of skype credit for $10. I call my sisters who are overseas a lot! And I’m looking at getting the wii for my boyfriend(He’s been pondering buying it for over 2 years. Talk about implulse control!).

Didn’t buy any gifts. Bought a gorgeous new area rug for the living room=$300. After having the old wall-to-wall for over twenty years, this wasn’t really extravagant. Bought a few cupcakes at a local bakery for shop small day. That’s all folks!

Spent $96 at Macy’s, and $72 at Target on Black Friday, using coupons and Target gift cards I had been saving all year. Spent $54 at Walmart on Sunday when I bought new garlands for my bannister (had the old ones for about 10 years – time to discard). On Small Bus. Saturday I ate at a local restaurant and paid cash – about $60 for three of us. (Sorry, Amex).

Let me add that none of my purchases were for gifts, or doorbusters. I bought stuff I needed anyway for the house (pillow cases, etc) at Macy’s and at Target I bought two Sonic Care toothbrushes that I had coupons and gift cards to pay with as well as a mail-in rebate. I didn’t stand in any lines at any store and went much later than the opening times. A friend of mine waited in the checkout line at Kohl’s for 3.5 hours just to pay for her purchases! I think I’m done with the Black Friday madness for a while…

I didn’t spend anything over the weekend, but for Cyber Monday so far I’ve spent over $100. I’m a sucker for a discount. I refuse to deal with the crowds at Black Friday sales (more often than not, back when I valued my time low enough to brave the crowds, the super discount items sold out before I got any anyways)

Just gas to get around town to visit friends and up to the mountain for skiing. Then I bought two winter ale 6-packs and split them both up. One pack for the Civil War game party and one for after skiing. Pretty cheap weekend, per usual.

I spent $12.99 out of pocket, i.e., over and above the $100 gift card I won in a drawing and used to fund most of my remaining Christmas shopping. I also ordered a few gifts from Amazon but these were paid for with gift cards I earned from Swagbucks.
Oh, and I spent about $11 out of pocket taking my niece and her two boys out to lunch on Sunday. The rest of that ticket was sunk cost, i.e., paid for with a discounted gift card I’d ordered in advance of heading up to Alaska.
I’ve got nothing against spending money. I just think we should spend it more mindfully. We agree on that, Flexo.

I will do online shopping for goods I plan to buy for a long time this weekend. I will by a pair of cotton boots for my mom as it’s winter now.A jacket for my dad. And a bottle of perfume for myself.I plan to spend $250 this weekend as I have collect a lot of coupons for those things from CouponSnapshot and Savings. I have made a detailed budget plan and I think i will get what I want and save a lot.

I spent $43 on a pair of snow boots for myself, and a pair of dress shoes for my daughter, who needed then for her choir outfit. Nothing for Christmas – although I would have spent $20 at Kohl’s for a dress shirt for Mr.Thriftability, had there not been a 1 1/2 hour line (no joke) to check out. Ever since paying off my credit card bills, I operate on a cash-only basis – so overspending on Black Friday isn’t an option for me!

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About Luke Landes

Luke Landes founded Consumerism Commentary in 2003 and has been building online communities since 1990. Luke has contributed to PC World Magazine, US News, Forbes, and other publications. Read more about Luke and about Consumerism Commentary.

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